Oilseeds News

FELICITY PRITCHARD Oilseed Industry Development Officer – Victoria and southern New South Wales Irrigated Cropping Forum Grains Innovation Park 110 Natimuk Road, Horsham, Vic 3401 Ph: (03) 5382 4396 or 0427 600 228 Thursday, 18 October 2007 No. 36 OILSEEDS NEWS CANOLA HAY GENERALLY BETTER QUALITY THIS YEAR Latest results from Feedtest in Hamilton have clearly shown that this year’s canola hay is generally better quality and less variable than last year, despite expectations from Dairy Australia Most of the canola north of the divide has now been cut for MAKE HAY: Wimmera farmers Kevin Schultz and his sons Grant and Steve hay following another intend to bale their canola crop tomorrow. Photo: Felicity Pritchard. disappointing finish to the season. But growers have learnt from last year’s experiences by cutting their failed canola earlier and conditioning the hay to produce an end product with slightly higher protein, digestibility and energy. 1 “People are deciding to cut earlier this time. That’s why we expected it to be better quality,” said Suzanne Dalton, Feedtest Manager with the Victorian Department of Primary Industries in Hamilton. Generally, the later the crop’s growth stage when cut, the poorer the hay quality. The Feedtest results are in contrast to the predictions of Dairy Australia who stated in their hay and grain report last week that this year’s canola hay from droughted crops was expected to be of poorer quality and less value to dairy farmers than last year. This was put down to the fact that most canola hay cut in 2006 was due to frost rather than drought. Ron Storey of Australian Crop Forecasters provides the information to Dairy Australia and said that canola and cereal hay quality is variable and urged farmers to have it tested. “Some grain crops have completely failed and hay quality may be poor, but there also have been some good crops cut to optimise hay quality. If in doubt, get a feed test done. There will be some very good quality hay around, depending on the time it was cut,” he said. Around 40 per cent of Victoria’s canola crop and more than 85 per cent of the New South Wales canola crop are estimated to have been cut for hay. The southern Wimmera and the Western District are still holding up for grain, with around 145,000 hectares of canola with very good yield potential mostly at the mid to late flowering stage. Wimmera graingrowers Steven and Grant Schultz, along with their father Kevin cut and conditioned their May-sown 30 hectare canola crop for hay last fortnight on their property at Kalkee, 20 kilometres north of Horsham. But their crop at Laharum, a further 40 kilometres to the south in the southern Wimmera has been spared and is expected to yield around 1.2 tonnes per hectare of grain. “There’s only 40 kilometres difference, but there’s a big difference in rainfall and temperature,” said Kevin. “The Laharum crop flowered over a longer period. This (Kalkee) crop just hit the wall and ran out of moisture,” he said. 2 He expects the Kalkee crop to produce around two tonnes per hectare of hay. He said historically, canola grown on his northern Wimmera property would yield at least 2.5 tonnes per hectare while his Laharum farm was too wet for crops. But in recent years, the southern Wimmera property was producing excellent crops while the Kalkee property suffered from drought. Canola hay quality for 2006 and 2007 (source: Feedtest) Baled canola hay Crude protein (%) Dry matter digestibility (%) Metabolisable energy (MJ per kg dry matter) 2007 (at 16 Oct) Average 16.6 69.1 10.3 Range 10-22 47-82 6.4-12.4 2006 Average 15.9 66.4 9.8 Range 4-27 33-85 4-13 *************** 3 .

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